Durban - A community police forum activist was gunned down while trying to rescue his family in his Westville home on Tuesday morning.
Yashin Bagwandeen, 43, was shot dead in his kitchen in front of his 3-year-old daughter, wife, and father after confronting intruders threatening his family.
His father, Vinod Bagwandeen, 65, said the incident happened at the home in Mottramdale Road at about 8.45am.
Vinod said he had walked his wife to a car that was taking her to visit her daughter and then walked back to the house. As he got to the house, a minibus with four men was parked at the front door. They asked for Yashin.
“They held me up with a gun, pulled down their balaclavas and took me inside.”
He said his daughter-in-law, Yashin’s wife, Larissa Bagwandeen, was in the kitchen with her child.
The men pointed a gun at Larissa.
“My daughter-in-law pleaded with them not to shoot and told them that she had a child with her.
“One of the guys started pressing a gun to the child’s face and Larissa started screaming,” he said.
Vinod said Yashin, who was in his bedroom at the time, must have heard the scream.
“He came out with his gun to the kitchen. When one of the guys saw him, he fired at my son and my son fired back. They kept on firing and the next thing we saw all of them running out.
“When I went to my son, I found him lying on the floor with a bullet through his head,” he said.
Vinod said it was the first violent crime incident at the house in which they had lived for more than 20 years.
“We usually have someone who is trying to break in or checking who is in the house and we would phone the police,” he said.
When The Mercury went to the house on Tuesday, Vinod was arranging space for cars to park and erecting a marquee.
The gunmen did not take anything from the house, but Vinod said they believed the men’s intention was to rob the family. He said the whole incident happened in less than 10 minutes.
Vinod said the funeral was planned for Thursday. The service would be at home and the body would be taken to the Clare Estate Crematorium for cremation.
Yashin ran an electronics business at home and his wife owned a beauty therapy business.
Mike Myers, the chairman of the Westville Community Police Forum, said he had known Yashin for just over a year, as a fellow member of the forum.
“A nicer, more gentle person you could not meet. He was very giving to this community and very supportive of the work of the police. Whenever funding was needed, he was the first to put his hand in his pocket. His death is very tragic. I am extremely shocked.”
Former radio station executive and now senior director of corporate affairs at the Durban University of Technology, Alan Khan, who went to primary and high school with Bagwandeen, said he was shattered by his death.
Khan said Bagwandeen had sent him a Facebook message last week, and Khan had replied that they should meet up “soon”. The childhood friends, who grew up in Overport, had kept in touch over the years.
Police spokesman Thulani Zwane confirmed the incident and said police were investigating a case of house robbery and murder. He said the suspects fled and no arrest had been made.
Myers said there had been a spike in violent crime, especially robberies, in Westville in the past month.
“We have addressed it with the Westville police management. They do have a plan which they have been working on and we are hoping that the plan which has been implemented will be expanded on.”
He said, generally, Westville had had a quiet year, compared with previous years.
“It is only last month when we had a spike and, more so, the last two weeks. We believe it is one or two gangs operating in the area. We are hoping they will be brought to book.”
The Mercury